Till Death
by MCR Lurver
Summary: A DVC and Last Templar story. Robert and Sean and forced to save Sohpie and Tess from the clutches of Teabing and Vance. A story of loss, pain, and love. The Last Templar is another grail book.
1. A familiar face

Knock…knock… 

_I wonder who it could be? _Tess thought.

She opened the front door, and gasped. There stood Vance. Tess opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out.

"Aw, Tess," he said. His voice was smooth, his eyes glinted. "It's so nice to see you again." His fake smile glistened in the Arizona sun.

"You… you…" she stammered, "How?"

"Aw, yes. You are remembering our, shall we say… experience… in Greece. Yes, that nasty fall that I took did not kill me completely. My spirit was broken, as was my body. But my mind was still alive.

"I lay there for hours, praying for death to take me. I woke up later in a soft bed. They told me that a fisherman had found me. I was thought dead, and brought to the local church. They called the doctor, the same one who had cared for you.

"When he came to look at my body, he said that I was no dead. He cared for me for days until I was well enough to be transported to a hospital in a near by city. There they were able to tend to my broken limbs.

"It seemed like I was stuck in the hospital for months. I had no visitors, no one to talk to; it almost drove me mad." He laughed. It was a cold and metallic sound that made Tess shiver.

"I thought I would never get out of there," he said. The laugh had gone; it was replaced by a serious voice. His eyes had turned hard and cold.

"When I did get out of there," he said, "all I could think about was one thing: that was you, Tess." He took a step forward. Tess stood her ground in the doorway. "All I could think about was what you had done. How much pain you had caused me, how much you had cost me…" his voice trailed away.

"What do you want?" Tess asked, her voice equally as cold now. "The documents are gone. You can't get them back."

"I know that," he said. Their eyes met before he continued, "But I am looking for something else. Something greater than the documents… It will, unfortunately, not bring down the church directly from the start; but it will give them something to think about."

He was moving forward, closer to Tess. She backed off, retreating into the house. In one fluid motion, he grabbed her shoulders and put a hand over her mouth to stop her from screaming.

"What I am looking for," he whispered, "is more valuable than any sum of money that you could ever imagine. I am trying to find the Templar Treasure. And when I have that money, I will be able to reform the Templars. And then do you know what I'm going to do?" Tess shook her head, eyes wide. "We will take down the damn church for good!" Vance almost shouted. He started to laugh again. Tess was trembling, but he did not loosen his grip on her shoulder.

Then there came a noise from the doorway. "Tess!" It was Sean. "Tess!"

Vance turned. "What's he doing here?" he hissed.

Sean and Vance locked gazes for a moment before Sean's lit up with remember. "You!" he said, "Get away from her, you bastard!" He charged at Vance, who easily side stepped him, and pulled out a gun from his jacket.

Tess screamed and tried to run, but Vance was too quick .He had the gun held to her head. "Don't move," he hissed. She froze, and watched as Sean got up from the floor, breathing hard. He slowly raised his hands into the air.

"Don't shoot," he said calmly.

"Don't worry," Vance responded, "I wouldn't hurt Tess. Why would I kill her if she could help he recover what I am looking for?" He started to back out of the house dragging Tess with him. Sean started forward, but Vance drew the gun away from Tess and pointed it at Sean. He stopped, and watched helplessly as Vance vanished with Tess.

_Bastard, _Sean thought. _He should have died when he fell off that cliff. I don't know how the hell he survived that._


	2. London

Finally the bag over Tess's head was pulled off. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the light.

She was in a car with Vance, the two of them sitting in the back seat. He was on one side, her, the other.

"It's so nice that you're awake now," he said, taking a sip of brandy from a glass. He offered it to her, but she shook her head no.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"We're heading to the airport in Phoenix," he answered coolly. "From there we'll catch a connecting flight to Boston, and from there, London."

"London?" Tess asked confused, "why are we going there?"

"You'll see," Vance almost whispered. He took another sip of the brandy, and then proceeded to stare aimlessly out of the window.

"Now," Vance said quietly, "Don't try to run." He had discarded his gun in the car, and had no way of keeping her with him. "If you make any attempt to escape, I'll call security, and it's over." His voice was menacing now.

"I won't," Tess agreed grudgingly. She sighed as they walked into the airport.

After what seemed like hours of sitting and reading old magazines, they were able to board their flight. Vance had bought them seats at the back of the plane so that they wouldn't be disturbed.

Tess sat in silence most of the flight. She did not move from her seat. Vance had taken her cell phone so that she couldn't call Sean.

Sean. It hurt too much to think about what he must be going through… again. This was now the second time that she had run off with Vance. But Sean would be better prepared to track them this time. _I mean, for God's sake, _she thought, _he was a fucking FBI agent! _

Finally a flight attendant came with their drinks. Tess looked at hers. It was a coke. She suddenly felt like a child again; having Vance order her a soda.

She drank it in silence. She didn't dare ask Vance why they were going to London. But she guessed that it was for some horrible, nasty reason. She blocked that thought from her mind and settled down into her seat.

After hours of flying, waiting in cramped airports, and sitting in silence, Tess and Vance reached London.

Vance hailed a cab and ordered it to a hotel. _Good, _Tess thought, _at least we're going to get some sleep tonight._ But then she stopped. _He's a psycho. Being in the same room as him; possibly the same bed…_ No. She wouldn't let herself think about it.

The thought made her shudder. Vance noticed.

"Cold?" he asked. He took off his coat and offered it to her. As Much as she didn't want to have anything to do with him, she accepted the jacket gladly.

After a short while, the cab stopped. Tess stepped out into the cool London evening as Vance paid the driver.

They walked into the front lobby of the hotel. Looking at the clock, she saw that it was only about six in the evening. Weird. She felt a lot more tired.

_Jet lag, Tess! Duh! _She thought to herself.

Vance hurried passed the front desk and straight to the elevator.

"We're not checking in?" she asked, almost jogging to keep up with his long strides.

"No," he answered after a short pause, "We won't be staying long."

The elevator doors opened, and a man stepped out. He gave Tess a soft smile, and she could not help but to smile back.

Just then the man's cell phone went off. He flipped it open and said, "Hi, Sophie. Where are you? I'm in the hotel lobby. What time are you going to get down here? What? Are you sure? I can cancel and stay with you if you like. All right. See you later."

Tess caught the conversation just before the elevator doors slid shut.

After a short ride, they exited the elevator and headed down a long hallway. Vance stopped outside of room 106, and knocked on the door. A woman opened it. She had dark brown hair, and was wearing jeans and a heavy sweatshirt. Tess suddenly felt awkward in her tan slacks and green blouse.

"Sophie?" Vance questioned. The woman nodded her head, staring at him.

Then Vance reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun.

_How the hell did he get another one? _Tess wondered.

The woman let out a small yelp, and started backing into the room. Vance edged forward, dragging Tess with him.

The woman backed into the bed in the room, and fell on it. Vance grabbed her shoulder and forced a bag over her head.

She cried out, "Robert!" in a French accent before Vance hit her with the gun, and she went limp.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tess shouted. "You bastard!"

Vance turned to her, his eyes blazing, and shoved another bag over her head. Then her world went black.

Again Tess awoke in a car. Her head hurt quite a lot now. She looked over to see the woman named Sophie still unconscious. She slowly sat up and looked to the seat across from her. Sitting there was an old man. Next to him, resting on the seat, leaded two metal crutches.

"Evening, Tess," he said in a British accent, before swinging his arm around towards her, and she knew no more.


	3. Lost in memory

_It was a dark and snowy evening. Leigh could hear a small commotion going on downstairs. But he didn't care. He cared about nothing anymore._

_The noise was getting louder. _New inmate?_ Leigh questioned. There came a noise outside of his room. _Dungeon is more like it, _he often mused. He could hear the jingling of keys now. _

_Then the door opened, and a guard pushed a man into the room. He had gray hair with some remaining flacks of brown in it. He looked tired, but sort of normal. _

Why is he here?_ Leigh asked himself. And then he saw it. The man had turned around, and Leigh could see his eyes burning with hatred and loss. _Definitely insane.

_The guard slammed the door behind the man. He slid open the little part at the top._

_"Now, Leigh, this is your new roommate. Be nice to him and show his around. _

Bastard, _he thought, looking at the guard. Why did they have to treat people like children? _For God's sake, I'm a grown man!

_The guard left, closing the strip on the door. _

_"What are you in here for?" he asked the man._

_"I shouldn't be in here!" the man said outraged, "I'm perfectly okay. There's noting wrong with me!"_

_"Acceptance is the first step in recovery," Leigh said calmly. _

_The man turned to look at him, his glare hard and piercing. "Great. I'm locked in here with a loony."_

_"I prefer the term 'Grail Enthusiast'," Leigh said._

_"Did you just say grail?" the man asked. His glare softened, his mussels loosened._

_"Yes, I did," Leigh answered. _

_"As in Holy Grail?" the man inquired._

_"Yes," Leigh replied, "As in Holy Grail."_

_"You may not be such a loony after all," the man said, "I'm Vance, by the way."_

_"Leigh. Leigh Teabing," Leigh said, shaking hands with Vance._

_"Teabing… Teabing? Where have I heard that name before? Oh! You're that guy… on the news…Wow. I'm standing next to Leigh Teabing. The Leigh Teabing."_

_"Don't bother," Leigh said, "You've insulted me, and only dug yourself a deeper hole by sucking up to me. Right now, you're on my shit list."_

_Vance stared at him blankly._

"_I take it that you are a grail man, too?" Leigh asked. Vance nodded. "Good. Now, where to begin?_


	4. Sophie and Tess

"Awww…" Tess groaned. Her head hurt a lot. Really, people should stop hitting her. She was going to get permanent brain damage if they kept this up.

Tess looked around. She saw Sophie sitting with her back up against a wall. They were trapped in a small room. She was lying on the floor.

Tess picked herself up gingerly. She walked over to Sophie and sat down next to her.

"Sophie," she said, "are you alright?"

"Yeah," she answered, sniffling. "How'd you know my name?"

"Vance said it," she replied with a shrug.

"Who's Vance?" Sophie asked, rubbing her head.

"He's the guy who kidnapped us. He's a real psycho."

"What does he want with us?" she asked.

"Vance is looking for the Knights Templar Treasure. Ever heard of it?"

"Shit. You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not. Why?"

"Bad Grail Psycho experience," Sophie said, shaking her head and looking at the floor.

"Been there, done that," Tess said with a small smile. "But I don't know who the other guy with him was. He was old, and had metal crutches."

"Fuck!" Sophie said. "Teabing."

"Who's Teabing?"

"My Grail Psycho. I wonder how he and Vance met."

"No idea," Tess sighed.

There was silence between them for a second before Sophie said, "So, you have someone coming to rescue you?"

"What?" Tess was confused.

"You know. Husband, boyfriend, brother… Who?"

"Husband," Tess said quietly, "New husband."

"I'm sorry," Sophie offered. "What's his name?" 

"Sean," Tess replied. "This is going to be the second time that he's had to rescue me from Vance. He's going to be pissed out of his mind. How about you?"

"His name's Robert," Sophie said, gazing absently at the wall across the room. "He's by boyfriend. I don't know if he's coming or not. He's a professor at Harvard. Definitely not the heroic type."

"Sean's a former FBI agent."

The two looked at each other before saying in unison, "We're screwed."


	5. A meeting of Chance

Sean wandered aimlessly around the airport. His eyes strained for a familiar face, but he knew that he wouldn't find her. Maybe she was meant to be with Vance. Maybe they should have never have gotten married after all.

After buying coffee and a newspaper, Sean sat down in the over crowed waiting area. _Why? _He asked himself. _This is the second time that I've had to rescue her from this psycho. What does he want with her now?_

He opened his paper, and prepared for the long flight ahead.

Hours later, Sean finally reached his destination. He paid the cab driver that had taken him to his hotel. He was in London.

There came a raised voice from a car nearby. It was an American accent. Odd. Then there came the sound of squealing tires on pavement. _Crazy drivers. _

Sean walked into the lobby and checked himself into a room.

He walked over to the elevators. He pressed the button, and waited. Then the doors opened after a few seconds, and he stepped inside. Seeing another man hurrying across the lobby, he pressed the hold button.

The man rushed into the elevator, and said, "Thanks."

Sean noticed that the man had dropped his wallet. It had fallen open, showing his driver's license. He picked it up, noting the name.

"Hey, you're Robert Langdon," Sean said. "I've read your book." He handed Robert the wallet. "There was some really great stuff in there."

"Thanks," Robert said. "I've just come back form a lecture about it. I'm headed to the bar."

"Me too," Sean said, pressing the button, "How 'bout I get you a drink? You look like you could really use one."

An hour later, Sean and Robert were headed up to their rooms. During their discussion, Sean had mentioned that he was a former FBI agent.

"Why don't you come to my room for a minuet to meet my friend Sophie? She's with the police force in France. She's heard about your work with METRAID."

"All right," Sean said. _Wait. Sophie. Girl. Tess! Shit._

When they reached the room, Robert slid in the key, and opened the door.

"Sophie?" he said. There was no answer. Robert flicked the lights on. His and Sean's eyes widened.

The room was a total wreck. Sheets were ripped off the bed (Bed, Sean observed. So much for "friends".), the phone was smashed against the wall, and wallpaper was torn and hanging off of the walls.

"Sophie!" Robert yelled. There was no sign of anyone in the room. "Oh, shit. Sophie."

Sean noticed a note on the coffee table. "What's this?" he asked, picking it up. He handed it to Robert. He scanned it for a moment.

Robert blinked, and read:

_Dearest Robert,_

_I suspect that you will find this sometime after we have vanished. I have taken Sophie. If you ever wish to see her again, you will do exactly as I say. No messing around, Robert. Do not try to find her, or I will kill her. She is helping me on a little treasure hunt. She finds what I am looking for with the help of another young lady, and you will have her back. Then things will be chummy again, won't they?_

_Cheers to you,_

_Leigh_

"That bastard," Robert whispered. His hands were shaking. Sean took the note and read it to himself.

"Another woman," Sean said. "That means he must have Tess, too."

"Who's Tess?" Robert asked.

"My wife," Sean answered. He told Robert about what had happened earlier that day with Vance.

"But how could Leigh have Tess when Vance took her?" Robert said. "Unless… Unless Vance and Leigh know each other…"

"Don't tell me we're dealing with two lunatics here," Sean sighed. "I could barely handle one."

Just then Robert's cell phone went off.

"Yeah," he answered, flipping it open.

"Ah, Robert. How nice it is to hear from you again."

"Leigh?" Robert asked. His whole body had stiffened. "Is that you?"

"Correct, Robert," the voice said.

"Where's Sophie?" Robert demanded. "Have you touched her, you bastard?"

"Of course not," the voice replied, mockingly shocked. "Now why would I do that?" I need her to help me find what I am looking for."

"An what is that, Leigh?" Robert's voice was starting to crack. "What is so important that you have to escape from your psycho ward and kidnap Sophie for?"

There was a pause before Leigh said, "The Templar Treasure."

"What do you want with the Templar Treasure?" Sean said.

"Who else is there?" Leigh's voice was sharp.

"My name is Sean Riley," He said.

"How much do you know about the Templars?" Leigh asked.

"Not much, Sean said, "But I believe that you could ask Tess, since you have her, asshole!"

"Damn it!" Leigh swore under his breath. "Robert, how the hell did you meet this man? Did you involve the police?"

"I am the police," Sean growled. "I've got the whole FBI to back me up."

"Fuck," Leigh muttered. Then the line was cut off.

"Do you have the number?" Sean asked, turning to face Robert.

"Yeah," he said.

"Good. We'll have a better chance of tracking him this way. I've got a friend in New York that I can send the number to."

"Are you really going to involve the FBI?" Robert asked.

"Hell no. I'm through with them. We're doing this on our own."


	6. Raised Voices and Blood

Tess sat up. She had fallen asleep on the cold floor the night before. _Couldn't they at least give us some blankets to sleep on? _

She looked over to see Sophie sitting with a tray of food next to her.

"At least they gave us something to eat," she said. "I saved you some toast."

"Thanks," Tess said, sitting down next to her.

They ate in silence, before Sophie said, "I don't think Robert's coming."

"What?" Tess said, choking on her toast.

"I don't think he's coming," Sophie said again. She was looking down at the floor, eyes red.

"What makes you say that?" Tess inquired.

"Well, you see… Robert and I… It's hard to explain…" Sophie took a deep breath. "We had a big fight a few nights ago. He wants our relationship to continue, but because of his busy schedule, and me being… Well, I said that maybe we should take a break. Robert got really upset at that. I think he's afraid of loosing me again. He won't let go… And I'm not really sure if I want him to or not."

She looked up, eyes bright. "But because of that fight, I don't know if he still wants to protect me or not…"

"I'm sorry," Tess said. It sounded pretty lame to her, but it was the only thing that she could think of to say.

Just then the heavy door banged open. Inside the room appeared Teabing.

"You!" he shouted at Sophie. She backed up towards the wall as he hobbled into the room on his metal crutches.

Tess darted out of the way as Leigh approached Sophie. He smacked her hard across the head with one of his crutches. She screamed and fell to the floor. Blood came gushing out of the gash on her forehead. Tess screamed too.

"Leave her alone, asshole!" Tess shouted. Leigh turned his attention to her.

"It's really a shame," he said, his eyes burning into hers, "that ladies like yourselves have to associated with such persistent men. If our plan fails, you both die." Leigh gave a mad cackle before leaving the room and slamming the door behind him. Tess heard a click, meaning that they were locked in again.

She ran over to Sophie, who lay motionless on the floor. "Sophie," Tess said, rolling her onto her back, "can you hear me?"

Sophie gave a small smile before saying, "Robert's coming, after all." Then she closed her eyes, and went unconscious.

Tess couldn't help but smile. She lay Sophie softly on the floor, and waited. She wasn't sure what she was waiting for exactly. Maybe for Sophie to wake up, for Leigh to come back and hit her, too, or for Sean to come bursting through the door, followed by Robert.

Robert. He seemed like a nice guy. Tess could only hope that he and Sophie solved their problems together.

But wait. Sophie. Robert. Then it hit her. She had seen Robert before. He had been talking to Sophie on his cell phone just before Vance had pulled her into the elevators.

Tess's thoughts were interrupted by the door banging open again. She turned to see Vance striding into the room carrying a roll of gauze.

"Asshole," Tess said, "Your friend could have killed her."

"I know," Vance said. His tone was quiet and cool. "I've already had words with him. How long has she been like this?"

"Only a few minuets," Tess answered. She watched as Vance carefully wrapped the gauze around Sophie's head.

"She'll be alright," he said. "She hasn't lost that much blood."

Tess and Vance looked at each other. For a moment, he almost seemed sane. He smiled at her before leaving and locking the door behind him.

_Maybe what he's doing isn't sheer insanity after all. Maybe he's right in what he's doing. No, Tess! Don't say that! What would Sean say?_

Her eyes welled with tears as she prepared for the long and lonely night with only her thoughts for company.


	7. The First Riddle

"Where do we start?" Sean asked. He and Robert had just checked out of the hotel, and were standing outside.

"I don't know," Robert hesitated. Without that number traced, we can't do anything."

There then came a beeping noise from Sean's coat pocket. It was his beeper.

"Good. The number's come back." He studied it for a moment longer, before saying, "The call was placed from a cell phone. But they're in London. It says they were calling from an abandoned warehouse. If we hurry, they might still be there."

Robert and Sean clambered into a cab. Sean gave the driver directions, and told him to hurry.

After a few tense minuets in the cab, Robert and Sean jumped out. Robert started to run towards the old building.

"How much?" Sean asked the driver.

"Fifteen," he answered in a thick Middle Eastern accent.

Sean was so nervous about what they might find inside that he dropped his money several times before he shoved a few bills into the man's outstretched hand. He jogged off after Robert, who was trying to force one of the side doors open.

"The damn thing… won't… budge," Robert grunted between bashes against the door. "They must have… blocked it… with something…"

Finally, after another suspenseful minuet, the door swung open. Sean and Robert rushed into the dark, musty smelling building, closing the door behind them.

The room they were standing in was old and dusty. Benches were lined up against the back wall. A small poker table with two folding chairs sat in the middle of the room.

Moving forward cautiously, the two edged around until they came to a door on the other side of the room.

Sean opened it slowly. It creaked a little, but looked in better condition than the rest of the place.

Robert crept into the smaller room in front of them. The floor and wall were black. Unlike the last room, this one had not furniture in it.

Almost immediately, Robert noticed a note that had been left on the floor. He walked over to pick it up, but stopped right before it.

The note was floating in a fresh puddle of blood.

Robert quickly swooped down and picked it up, trying to ignore the blood dripping from the note.

He scanned it quickly, as Sean joined him. He read aloud:

_Dearest Robert and Companion,_

_It was a nice try, but once again we are a step ahead of you. I am sure that you have noticed the blood by now. Nice touch, don't you think? If you ever want to see Sophie and Tess again, they must learn when to keep their mouths shut. By now we have moved on to a new location. To keep this guessing game up, we have added a puzzle for you to solve:_

_Across fields of grass so gold,_

_To weep with me! To weep with me!_

_Of magnificent life that was foretold,_

_The Truth will set you Free!_

_Yours always, _

Leigh 

"What the hell does that mean?" Robert said. "Golden fields? Magnificent life? The Truth will set you Free? It makes no sense."

"What was the last line?" Sean asked sharply. His fingers were numb. Could this really be what he thought it was? "The last line. Read it again."

"The Truth wills set you Free," Robert read. "Does it mean anything to you?"

"The Truth will set you Free," Sean muttered. Then it hit him.

"What?" Robert asked.

"Veritas vos libera," Sean said, "It's Latin for 'the truth will set you free'. That's what Vance said when…" His voice trailed off.

"I know what it means," Sean said, his eyes lighting up. "There's a church, with that inscription on it. Where is it? Where is it?"

"Magnificent life," Robert mused. "Well, it must have something related to the Templars or the Holy Grail, or else Leigh wouldn't bother to write about it."

_Come on, think, Robert! Think!_

And then it hit him.

"Magnificent life. He's talking about the Holy Grail itself."

"But the Holy Grail wasn't alive," Sean said. "It was a cup."

"Or so the world thinks," Robert fired back. "The Holy Grail was actually Mary Magdalene. Magnificent life must be referring to Jesus' child, Sarah. She was raised in-"

"Wait. What are you talking about? Jesus never fathered a child. That's not what the Bible says."

"I don't care what the Bible says," Robert said, "As I was saying… Sarah was raised by her mother, Mary Magdalene, in France."

"France! That's it," Sean said. He gave a small laugh. "So, France. That's where they are."

"But where?" Robert said. "There is no way in hell we could find them in time."

"That's easy. They're headed to that Templar church… castle… whatever it is. Vance kept talking about it to Tess. They have to be there."

"Alright. I'll take your word for it," Robert said. "Now, let's get out of here, and get a flight to France."


	8. Arrival

"Where the hell are we now?" Sophie asked. Last night Vance had come into their little room, telling them to get up. He said that they had to leave, and Tess and Sophie, being as tired as they were, followed suit without arguing.

They were not in the back of what seemed to be an armored truck.

"I don't know," Tess said slowly. "I don't really remember. I don't know why we had to leave."

"I think I know," Sophie said after a long pause.

"What?" Tess inquired.

"Well, when Leigh's frightened or pressured, he moves. Changes his position… The only thing that could make him do that now is Robert."

"Did they know each other before?" Tess asked hesitantly, "I mean, before…"

"Yes," Sophie said. "They were friends before, this…" her voice trailed off. "Robert took us to his estate in France when…"

"What?" Tess said.

"France. We're going to France. Leigh still has his estate. He must be taking us there."

"Do you really think we're going there? I mean, won't he and Vance want to go to look for their treasure before anything else?"

"No," Sophie replied. "Leigh's study is packed with grail crap. I've been in there before."

"So you're saying that we're going to Leigh's house to look at grail stuff?" Tess questioned.

"Then we go to wherever the treasure is," Sophie replied. "And that's when our world turns to a living hell."

"Is it not already?" The two looked at each other.

"Oh, no," Sophie said. "Robert. How is he supposed to find us now? There's no way he and Sean could track us all the way to France."

"You did say that Robert is a professor at Harvard, right?" Tess asked.

"Yeah. So?"

"And what's Leigh's style of kidnapping?"

"Oh, I don't know. Clues and puzzles, I guess."

"Then Robert should have no trouble figuring out where we are if Leigh left him a puzzle of some sort."

"I suppose you are right," Sophie said. "I mean, he did figure out the code in the cyrptx to discover the message inside."

"Tell me," Tess said.

"Well, he figured out that the verse "In London lies a knight a pope interred' was referring to Alexander Pope and Sir Isaac Newton. And the verse 'You seek the orb that ought be on his tomb, of rosy flesh and seeded womb' meant an apple."

"Wow,' Tess said. "I'm not sure anyone else on the planet could have figured that one out."

"Yeah," Sophie said. "Robert is very special. That's why I like him so much. He can be brilliant without even knowing it." She smiled at the thought. "If he does come to save us with Sean, I'll let him know that I want him to stay. I don't think that I'd be as secure or confident without him."

Tess smiled, too. "Sometimes that's how I feel about Sean. I mean, his mind is nothing special, but it's his will power that's so captivating."

Just then the tuck stopped. "Oh, hell," Tess said. She and Sophie exchanged a last look before the doors opened.

Vance held out his hand. He motioned for the two to come forward. "No bags," he promised.

When Sophie and Tess had exited the back of the truck, they saw that Sophie's thought had been correct.

"Welcome," Leigh said, gesturing with one of his crutches, "to my humble country home."

Tess stared in awe at the mansion laid out before her. It looked too beautiful to be real; it was like something out of a fairytale.

"Come on, then," Leigh said, leading the way into his house.

That is one damn nice house," Tess said. Vance gave a little house. His and Tess's eyes met. For a moment, they seemed suspended in time. Then he broke the bond, ushering her and Sophie towards the house.


	9. The Second Riddle

"Would you lie something to drink, sir?" A flight attendant had come by, pushing a rolling cart.

"Oh, not, thank you," Sean said. He had been staring out of the window for a good half an hour. Robert had spent most of the flight in the bathroom. _It's roomier out here than in that thing they call a bathroom._

The flight attendant moved towards the other end of the plane. Then Robert appeared and sat down next to him. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he said. "I'm fine."

"You sure? You look really pale."

"I'm fine," Robert insisted. "I just don't like small spaces."

"It's smaller in there than out here."

"Not when I have my eyes closed."

Sean couldn't argue with that. _Maybe he does have a point after all…_

"Now, where do we go from here?" Robert asked. They had just left the airport.

"I don't know. I thought that you had this figured out."

"Well, we could try Leigh's mansion."

"He had a mansion?"

"Yeah. It's sort of in the countryside, just outside of Paris."

"Have you ever been in there?" Sean asked.

"Oh, yeah," Robert said with a small smile. "I'm pretty sure that they might have stopped there. It's packed with grail stuff. Leigh was actually knighted for his grail research."

"Okay," Sean said. "Then we're off to break into Leigh's mansion, I guess."

"His highly guarded mansion," Robert added, almost as an after thought.

"Oh, great. And how are we supposed to do that, professor?"

"Well, I don't know, really. I guess we could climb the back fence, and slip in through one of the windows."

"And what happens if they're in the house?" Sean asked as he hailed a taxi for them.

"Then we fight Leigh and Vance, grab Sophie and Tess, and run out of there."

"Really?" Sean asked, climbing into the cab.

"Hell no."

Sean chuckled to himself as Robert told the driver where to go.

"So, we're just going to climb over that wall and slip unnoticed across the grounds, then break into the house through a window?"

"Yeah," Robert said with a shrug. "Any other suggestions?"

"No."

"Exactly."

Robert began his assent on the wall. Sean followed him reluctantly.

Climbing up the wall was very difficult. But climbing down was easier. It took one miss-placed foot on Sean's part, and an arm grabbing onto Robert for support, and both of them falling down.

"Well, at least we're in," Sean said with a weak smile.

"Easy for you to say," Robert groaned, trying to pick himself up off of the ground. He knew that Sean felt bad about pulling him down, too, but that didn't make the pain in his ass go away.

"So, we're just going to climb in through a window?" Sean asked.

"Yeah."

"Through broken shards of glass?"

"Yes."

"Are you insane?"

Robert just smiled and looked away, rolling his eyes. "Okay. Let's go. We're going to have to get in there sooner or later."

"What about cameras?" Sean asked.

"I don't think they're active," Robert said, glancing at the camera mounted on the house. "See how the light isn't blinking, genius?"

"Oh," Sean grumbled. "I knew that."

Robert gave a nervous laugh. "We should go."

"Yeah," Sean said. "Do you really think they're going to be in there?"

"I don't know," Robert answered after a short pause. "I really don't know."

Breaking in was easy. It wasn't as hard as Sean had expected it to be.

Luckily, Robert had found a broken branch on the ground, and had thrust it into the window, which had shattered easily.

Robert and Sean clambered through the window, and found themselves in the kitchen. Quietly, they crept through the house. Finally, they reached the study.

Robert stopped. There, on the floor, lay a gray sweatshirt. "Sophie," he whispered.

Sean looked around the room. It was packed with books, papers, copies of documents, and various other things. Then he spied it.

Leaving Robert crouched on the floor holding onto the sweatshirt; he walked over to a desk to his left. On it sat and note, and a –

"Stuffed elephant?" Sean asked, picking it up. "Why did they leave a stuffed elephant?"

Robert looked up from the sweatshirt. "Elephant? Why the hell is there an elephant on the table?"

"I don't know," Sean said slowly, "But there's a note with it."

Robert walked over to Sean, still holding the sweatshirt. He took the note from Sean, carefully unfolding it. It read:

Of brute force and assume strength, 'Tis the Star shape you trace Through winding path and crowed space, You seek a group Free and Mace. Through the gate, Down winding path And then to pass by The lonely Giraffe. 

_Best of luck to you, _

Leigh 

"What the hell does all this shit mean?" Robert said in frustration. "Why can't he just tell where they're headed next? It would make it a hell of a lot easier."

Sean scanned the note over a few times. "I presume that the first line is referring to this," he gestured towards stuffed animal still clutched in his hand.

"I guess," Robert said. "Why else would Leigh have left it here?"

"I think that the second and third lines are making reference to a place. Somewhere crowed; a city, perhaps? Now, what city is in the shape of a star?"

Robert was silent. "And what about the forth line?" Sean said. "'A group Free of Mace'? What does that mean?"

"Free… Mace… Group…" Robert was mumbling. Then his eyes lit up. "Ah, of course. Leigh, I don't know how you do it. He's talking about the Free Masons. They were basically a later form of the Knights Templar. They designed Washington D.C. as a five-pointed star. Did you know that George Washington himself was a Free Mason?"

"Yeah, thanks for the history less and all," Sean said, "but you're saying that they're in Washington D.C.? Then why did they lead us to France?"

"I don't know. Mind games, maybe?" Robert suggested.

"Giraffes and elephants in D.C, though?" Sean said, raising an eyebrow.

Robert squinted his eyes for a moment, apparently lost in thought, staring at the floor. Then he began to laugh.

"What?" Sean demanded.

"The zoo," Robert said, looking up. "He's referring to The National Zoo. The elephants are right next to the giraffes."

"Okay," Sean said. "Now, how do we get to Washington D.C in just a few hours?"


	10. In the Zoo

"I think it's angry," Sophie said. They were now in Washington D.C. She and Tess were standing, looking at a capybara. Vance and Leigh were somewhere else. But they didn't want to run. Not just yet.

"What makes you say that?" Tess asked.

"Well, it's giving us the 'Death Glare'," Sophie pointed out.

"Oh."

Just then, it started moving towards them.

"Oh, look! It's coming over to say hi," Tess squealed excitedly.

The capybara came over to the railing where Tess and Sophie were standing.

"Hi, there, little guy," Tess cooed. "You're so cute!"

And then it sneezed.

"Eww! Gross! Tess shouted. She had capybara snot all over her pants.

"You're not so cute, you little ugly-ass rodent…" she grumbled, trying to wipe her pants off.

It walked back to the other end of its pen.

"I don't think it likes you very much," Sophie said with a smirk.

"Shut up."

Just then Vance appeared at Tess's side.

"Ew. What happened to your pants?"

"Don't ask," Tess grumbled. Sophie let out a small giggle, and Tess shot her a lethal look.

"Come on," Vance said. "We're going somewhere else. Move."

Tess and Sophie followed Vance away form the capybara.

"Where's Teabing?" Tess asked, hurrying to keep up with Vance.

"He's doing something right now," Vance said flatly, indicating that the topic was not up for discussion.

"Oh,' Tess said, "He's…"

"No," Vance said, stopping to look at Tess. She and Sophie giggled.

"How did I get stuck babysitting you?"

"Well, you don't hit us in the head with crutches,' Sophie pointed out. She and Tess exchanged smiles.

"Ha, ha," Vance said. His gaze had turned cold now.

"But we like you better," Tess said. "You're not so mean."

Vance just gave her an exasperated look before saying, "Look, we have to go now. Come on."

"But we want to see the elephants," Sophie said.

"No. Anything but the elephants," Vance said sharply. "Now, stop this. It's creeping me out. Why have you taken a sudden liking to me anyway?"

"We're bored," Sophie said. "And hungry." She and Tess smiled again.

"Will you stop this if I take you to go see the hippo?"

"You mean the grossly overweight one-ton hippo?" Tess chimed in.

"Yes," Vance sighed. "The grossly overweight one-ton hippo."

Sophie and Tess laughed, and Vance shook his head. Then they started walking off towards the hippo.

"I think it's kind of cute," Sophie said, when they were standing in front of the hippo pen.

"You think everything's cute, Sophie,' Tess pointed out. They both laughed.

"Sometimes you two are more like small children than adults," Vance said. Sophie and Tess both threw him a nasty look. "I'll be right back," he said. "Don't go anywhere, understand?"

"Yes, sir," Tess said mockingly.

"Come on, Tess. I'm just trying to do my job."

"Oh, and your job includes kidnap, riddles, being dragged across Europe and North America, keeping us away from loved ones, and pulling us out of our normal lives so that you can go on a treasure hunt?" Tess huffed.

Vance just looked at her before walking away.

Meanwhile, Robert and Sean had just entered the zoo.

"Where do we go from here?" Sean asked.

"Um, maybe somewhere near the giraffes or the elephants," Robert suggested. "I mean, that's what the note said, after all."

They started off at a fast paced walk down the path.

And then Robert saw them

"Sophie!" he screamed over the din of the crowd. "Sophie!"

But she didn't hear him.

They started to run towards Sophie and Tess; pushing people roughly aside, trying to get closer.

"Sophie!" Robert screamed again. His voice was starting to crack. Finally, they were about to be reunited.

Upon seeing Tess, Sean found new energy, and charged forward, passing Robert. He had to reach her; he just _had _to.

Sophie turned. Was someone calling her name?

"What are you looking at?" Tess asked, turning in the direction that Sophie was staring in.

Tess noticed that some men were pushing their way through the crowds behind them. _They probably just robbed the gift shop, _she thought.

And then their eyes met.

"Sean!" Tess screamed.

Vance whirled around. To his horror, he saw Robert Langdon and Sean Reilly charging full speed in his direction.

"God damnit!" he swore loudly, causing some old ladies walking near them to turn and stare at him.

He grabbed Tess and Sophie roughly by the arms, and started to drag them forward.

"Let go of me!" Tess screamed, causing even more stares from passersby. "Let me go!"

Vance reached into his coat and pulled out a gun. Putting it to Sophie's head, he hissed, "Run, and I will shoot you. I don't care if all these people see me. I'll shoot. I mean it."

Suddenly, in one swift, fluid movement, Tess reached down with her head, and bit Vance on the hand.

"Son of a bitch!" he yelped, releasing his grip on the two women. He dropped the gun, and clutched at his hand, which was bleeding.

Sophie and Tess saw their window of opportunity, and bolted

"Come back!" Vance screamed over the crowd, but it was too late.

Tess could no longer see Sean. She and Sophie continued to run back in the direction that they had just come from. And, hopefully, towards Sean and Robert.

Suddenly Sophie noticed that people were screaming, and running in the other direction.

And then she saw why.

"Oh, shit."

**Author's Notes: Sorry it's been so long since I've last updated. Again, totally sorry. I've been really busy with school and sports, and I haven't had a lot of time to write. Just a quick note: the capybara part was a true story. My pants are still scared to this day. Capybara snot does NOT come off easy. **


	11. Elephant

**Author's Notes: Oh, God, please don't shoot me! I know it's been… well, I don't want to think how long it's been since I last updated… Anyway, I was cleaning through all of my fanfiction notebooks, and I found this chapter that I had written but never published, and my author senses started tingling… or was it my panda senses… never mind. I felt compelled to post anyway, even though I have ZERO muse left for this story. I might pick it up again someday… someday…**

**Chapter 11:**

"ELEPHANT!" Sophie screamed at the top of her lungs.

Tess stopped, paralyzed with fear. What the hell was an elephant doing out of its pen? Well, they weren't going to stick around to find out.

"Run!" Tess screamed to Sophie. They both turned, and sprinted back the other way.

After about thirty seconds of all out sprinting, Sophie and Tess realized that the elephant was not coming towards them at all. It was going the other direction – towards Robert and Sean.

"No!" Tess screamed. She started to run back towards the rogue elephant, but Sophie grabbed her around the midsection, stopping her from going any farther.

"You can't go back there," she said. "It's too dangerous."

"But we've just found them," Tess managed to choke out. Her eyes were filling with tears, and her voice was cracking. "We can't lose them now." She sat down on the ground, and started crying. Sophie sat down next to her, putting a comforting arm around Tess.

"Smart choice," came a voice from behind them. "I mean, not to go back." It was Leigh. "Get up," he said with a look of disgust. When they did not move, he prodded them with one of his crutches. "I said get up."

Tess glared up at him, eyes red. "No."

"Get up!" His voice had risen to a shout now. They didn't move. "I will not stand for this!" he said. He pulled out a gun. "Get up now," he said more calmly.

"No," Sophie said.

"Get – "

"So shoot me!" Sophie screamed.

"That can be arranged," Leigh said quietly. He leveled the gun at her head.

"No!" Tess shouted. Just as Leigh pulled the trigger, Tess leaped up, pushing Sophie out of the way, and falling to the ground on top of her protectively.

Then she let out a shriek of pain. She had not been so lucky as to avoid the bullet. It was just grazed her right arm, but it hurt like hell.

Sophie laid on the ground, stunned, eyes wide.

Then there came pounding footsteps and shouting. Vance had returned. He was cursing his head off at Leigh for actually trying to shoot Sophie.

After another minuet or so of loud arguing between the two men, Vance turned his attention towards Tess. "Oh, God, Tess," he said quietly, looking at her arm. "I can't believe that asshole would have shot you both." Tess merely looked up at him. "How does it feel?" he asked after a few seconds of silence.

"It feels like it's burning," she answered.

He kept his hand on her arm for another few seconds before saying, "We'd better get out of here."


End file.
